Mad Men is set to premiere on AMC this Sunday, April 7th, and around here, we're pretty jazzed. This is the show that started it all for the small cable station that eventually brought us Breaking Bad and The Walking Dead. But the network would be nowhere without the story of Don Draper and Sterling (Draper) Cooper (Pryce). Season six is going to carry us right into the swinging 60s complete with the fashion and attitudes of the day. While it's doubtful I can still fit into my Marmalade dresses from my early 20s, I'm really excited to see how Don, Roger, Dale, and the rest handle the changing attitudes both in the office and in America. But how did they get where they are, and what about their histories will effect the course of the future for these Madison Avenue men?
The show started and focused primarily around Don Draper—then creative director of Sterling Cooper—and his relationships, affairs, and familial disasters both in and out of the office. A lot of Don's personal issues seemed to stem directly from the slowly changing mindsets of the day. The promotion of Peggy Olson, Sal's secret life, and Paul's civil rights leanings and romance were all central plots to early seasons. The show has touched on sexism, racism, social norms, and the changing of cultural values through those early years of the 1960s without being heavy handed or too in-your-face-those-were-crap-times.
As the show progressed, characters became more well-rounded. Peggy just wasn't the girl wanting to get to the top; she's become Don's equal in many ways. He respects her as an individual now, whereas you could tell in those early days that he looked at her like any other frumpy secretary. And Joan, while remaining sexy and beautiful, is no longer just the office bombshell. Her marriage to Dr. Holloway, his treatment of her, and her eventual absolute control over the SDCP offices have brought amazing layers to a character that could have easily been seen as just Roger Sterling's romantic tryst.
We're entering season six with Don still married to Megan (his former secretary), Betty still married to Henry, and a whole lot of mess in the middle. With Pryce dead, Roger more miserable than ever, and Joan heading into partner territory (in place of Lane Pryce and under intense and vile circumstances), Mad Men season six looks like it'll be the most intense season yet. And with only one season remaining after this one ends, who knows where Matthew Weiner will take the show as we approach the dawning of the Age of Aquarius.
Mad Men seems to be a Perfect Storm of history, character, and very true-to-today critiques of life, love, and work. I'll be watching on Sunday night to see how the attitudes of the late sixties are effecting us now and what Don and crew have to say about it all.
So, spill it! What do you think of Mad Men, and will you be watching on Sunday?
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